Hello, and welcome to my last post on the topic of Obesity. Obesity was my Health topic for the month of October. While I did not get to cover all of the topics I wanted to, I provided a great deal of information for anyone interested in learning more about Obesity. For the month of November, my Health topic will be Dementia. I usually do posts on Gratitude in November, but I think I will just refer to last year’s posts.
For the month of October, my husband and I challenged ourselves to lose 10 pounds by the 31st. With 3 days left I still have 3.5 pounds to go. While I would obviously like to smash the goal, I am realistic that 10 pounds in one month, is not easy, and equals 2.5 pounds per week. I don’t know, yet, how my husband did. I will report on Monday. For November, and which is the topic of this post, we will make a goal to keep off whatever weight we lost in October. This is a huge challenge for any who loses weight. Learning how to keep off the weight is the harder part of weight loss in my opinion. If you did not learn how to change your relationship with food, make better food choices, learn proper portion sizes, and move more then you probably will not be successful at keeping the weight off. With the holidays coming all of the aforementioned things are super important. I am in no way suggesting you starve, deprive yourself, exercise to death, or eat no carbs. Those things are not sustainable, nor do they lead to success. People will try to sabotage you, trust me. Why they do it, I don’t know for sure, but they will. You have to have more willpower than they do. Now, I could have done the Keto Diet and probably easily lost the 10 pounds, and more. However, of all the people I watch who do the Keto Diet, as soon as they stop they gain weight. Why? Because, not eating carbs is not sustainable for the rest of your life, and unless you learn how to eat carbs in a healthy way, sustainable weight loss will most likely not be a success for you.
The human body needs carbs, fat, and sodium. There are Keto doctors, at least they say they are doctors, who say we don’t even need carbs to survive. That may be true, and I have found no clinical trials that say that, but carbs are affordable, and many people rely on them. I am not Diabetic, but if you are you still probably have been told to eat a certain amount of carbs to keep your blood glucose from dropping.
Here are two sources that can help you learn about keeping weight off. Plus, there is a video below, in case you don’t want to read it all, but it is worth the read, that explains the study. The second source offers a presentation on learning to keep weight off. I did not watch it, yet, but I intend to.
Last Fall I made a goal to lose weight. I managed to lose 20 pounds in about 6 months. I was able to maintain that right up until the Summer of this year. I gained back 4 pounds, which is not awful, but definitely was not part of my Health goals. So, what have I learned in the last year about weight loss, and keeping it off?
- I have to be consistent. I can’t lose weight and then expect to stop eating the way I have been to lose it, and go back to the bad habits and not expect to gain. I have to track my macros whether others like it or not. It is a very important tool for me to be successful. I have to track my step count, whether others like it or not. It is a very important tool for me to be successful.
- I really hate intense exercise. I do lift weights, but only light weights, no I don’t care what you think about that. I walk, a lot, that is my main form of exercise. I do make fitness goals, and then I try to meet them. But, I do not necessarily enjoy it. Those goals are more a must, than an enjoyment.
- I allow myself to indulge now and then, or to not follow my weight loss eating plan. I do not allow myself to feel guilty.
- I do weigh myself every day, and no I don’t care what others think about that. I have CKD and I tend to retain water. A couple pounds of weight gain, when my other food tracking seems to be on track, can be a warning sign.
- I measure my chest, waist, and hips weekly. This is a far better tool than the scale to monitor success as losing body fat is really the goal, not necessarily weight loss.
- I can not worrry about what others think, or say. People are going to stick their noses in whether you ask them to or not. My actual weight for my height, which is 5 feet even, is 128 pounds. People will think I have lost too much weight when I reach that goal simply because they are not used to seeing me that size. It will not make me unhealthy, and I can not let their issues effect my goals. People will also judge what, and how I eat. Learn to tell people to mind their own business. Unless I am seriously over weight, or under weight, and they are a loving family member, doctor, or friend, then just let it slide off your shoulders. I don’t need it, but they seem to need to tell you how to eat.
- Learn to say no. This one is very hard when you have a family, and or active social life. Learning to say no I am not going to drink alcohol excessively, no I am not going to out out every day, yes, I am going to learn to cook for healthier food options.
- I can not eat fast food, convenience food, processed foods, and snacks plus lose weight. It simply is not possible. These foods are very calorie dense, devoid of fiber, high in fat, and high in salt. This has to be a treat, not a habit.
- I can not drink my calories.
- I have to be patient. It takes time to break old habits, and to obtain the willpower to counteract everyone around me. Get off social media if it effects me in a negative way. Infleuncers are not inflencers for anything good, or at least not most of them. They are making money just like the nasty food companies. They are pushing products, and looking for views, plain and simple. Don’t read comments either, they are never good. When people are just looking to make a buck they are not worried about someone else’s health.
If you would like help to lose weight via my Health Coaching, use the contact form below to message me. I am not young, and I am not thin. I have my own weight loss goals. But, I know how to support, teach, and motivate.
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Living Life With CKD 